“Remember this simple number: in 2020, youngsters, Millennials, the Y generation, call them whatever you wish; they will represent 50 percent of the work force, that is, more or less 50 percent of our market. Therefore it is crucial to start listening to them.”
—Valéry Bollier, co-founder and CEO of Oulala to CalvinAyre.com on the iGaming industry’s need to adapt to a younger, more skill-based model
“This legislation, if it’s passed, will result in a lawsuit in which the state is unlikely to prevail, based upon precedent from the last 15 years.”
—Scott Crowell, attorney for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, reacting to a bill in the Idaho legislature that would ban slots at tribal casinos
“This is the latest in a series of attacks on tribal gaming that anti-gaming and anti-Indian forces have mounted in Idaho since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988.”
—Blaine Edmo, chairman of the Fort Hall Business Council, criticizing a bill in the Idaho legislature aimed at banning slot machines at tribal casinos
“This bill is written like people in York County care about saving this gambling industry from a bygone era. It simply can’t support itself anymore.”
—Jenny Freeman of Casinos No, commenting that an initiative to build a casino in York County, Maine, sets aside 10 percent of profits for racetracks
“I can walk into one of the Pennsylvania casinos and see people gambling, plopping dollar after dollar into slot machines or playing table games, and I can’t for the life of me understand why a college football Saturday can’t be met with a $20 three-team parlay. If we are already gambling in Pennsylvania, wouldn’t this just be the best thing going if we could add sports gaming here? I know I’d love it.”
—Columnist Colin Dunlap writing for the CBS Pittsburgh website that Pennsylvania lawmakers should pass legislation submitted to legalize sports betting
“I can’t accept that the government might change the plan from a complete ban on tobacco into a so-called plan for smoking lounges. If the government is kneeling to the casinos, then it needs to explain the reasons why.”
—Lei Cheng I, Macau lawmaker, who opposes a plan to retain smoking lounges inside the city’s casinos
“It is only the VIP gaming area of casinos that are left with smoking areas. The government is still studying into this issue and will express its final stance on the matter.”
—Fernando Chui Sai On, Macau chief executive, who says the city government has not yet decided whether to retain casino smoking lounges
“Despite repeatedly making statements over a period of several years as to the significance of the Chinese VIP gaming market to the company’s strategy and earnings, Crown then tried to downplay the significance of the staff arrests.”
—Julian Schimmel, class-action lawyer, on Crown Resorts shareholders who lost money after 18 company staffers were arrested in China. Share prices dropped following the arrests in October
“We respect China’s judicial system, their legal system and we’ll always seek to support Australians. When you’re in China you have to obey the laws of China.”
—Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Prime Minister, asked if he is concerned that Crown Resorts staffers arrested in October for alleged gambling crimes and detained in China will receive due process
“If you put up some of the tacky buildings that you have in Las Vegas or Macau here, it would look out of place. Can you imagine the Venetian here?”
—Lawrence Ho, CEO, Melco Crown, taking a jab at the Las Vegas Sands Corp. in a statement about Japan’s budding casino market
“It is the consensus of Mr. Lam’s lawyers, both abroad and here, for him to decline any invitation to return.”
—Raymond Fortun, lawyer, who says alleged illegal casino operator Jack Lam will not return to the scene of the crime in the Philippines
